How important are Unique Collections in your teaching, learning or
research?

It is no exaggeration to say that the Unique Collections are
necessary for me to do my work. In the classroom, I incorporate
primary sources into every lecture, and my personal research
unequivocally depends on my ability to access primary sources that
are diverse in their geography, chronology, and type.
Unfortunately, it is increasingly difficult (at times,
mind-numbingly so) to track down primary sources that are both
authentic and available. That is why the Portal to Texas History
and the Special Collections are so very important!

How have Unique Collections changed the way you approach your
research, teaching or learning?

Primary sources allow us (as teachers, as researchers, or as
students) to see history unfold not as a string of facts but as a
story of diverse experiences and deep-rooted assumptions,
individual struggles and shared challenges, scientific hubris and
technological triumph. This is because, by their very nature,
primary sources are close to the subject at hand. As I have become
more aware of the impact that these sources can have in my work, I
have become more dependent on Unique Collections. When I am
prepping my classes, I now spend as much time parsing the sources
in the Portal to Texas History as I do writing notes, prepping
powerpoints, or reading textbooks. Archival sources have become my
first line of defense, my first line item on a To-Do list, and my
primary resource for classroom material.

What do you want others to know about your research, teaching or
learning?

One of the courses that I teach regularly is Texas History.
Frequently, I will have students who think they have heard it all
(having grown up in the state), but I also get students who know
absolutely nothing about the state. It can be challenging, from a
teacher’s perspective, to engage students along this spectrum. For
example, how do you teach the (very much loaded) story of The
Alamo for both the first time and the millionth time? What I have
discovered is that the sources in the Unique Collections are
precisely what I need. Sources from the Portal to Texas History,
for example, help to make this history more accessible, more
relevant, and more intellectually uncomfortable/challenging. My
students learn more and grow more when I present them with sources
from the Unique Collections (they also enjoy the class quite a bit
more), and frankly, I am a much better teacher when I am engaging
these sources as well.

Dr. Kenna Lang Archer is a Senior Instructor at Angelo State
University in San Angelo, Texas, where she teaches U.S. environmental
history, Texas history, and American history. Her first book, Unruly
Waters, was published by University of New Mexico Press. She recently
finished writing an updated edition of Ogallala: Water for a Dry Land
with John Opie and Char Miller. She will be presenting her current
research project at the Western History Association meeting in October.